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Since the early 2000s, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has rapidly gained significance in India, both among large companies and as a policy instrument formally intended to foster corporate contributions to the country's development goals. This book analyses this phenomenon in relation to broader political and economic changes induced by India's 'pro-business' development strategy. Using a systems-theoretical approach, the analysis shows that 'pro-business' policies have led profit-driven economic processes to increasingly override collective aspirations for social welfare, environmental protection, and democracy. In order to decipher how CSR changes the interplays between profit-making and developmental aspirations, the book provides detailed analyses of CSR in the cement industry and in regulatory policies adopted by the central government. It shows that CSR operates as an 'intermediary institution' which further enhances the autonomy of the economic system, as it makes profit-making more responsive to risks arising from competing collective values and interests.

The PhD-thesis offers an original interpretation of the phenomenon of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a meta-embeddedment of firms. This interpretation is grounded in a multi-level empirical investigation of the Indian case. The first part begins with the presentation of an analytical framework, which uses the Polanyian notions of embeddedment and disembeddedment of the economic system to shed light on the relationships between firms and their social environment. The framework is subsequently deployed in a macrosociological study of the firm-society relationship in India. Three distinct configurations emerge. A form of "sociocultural" embeddedment of firms predominates from the 1860s to 1947. It gives way to a political and bureaucratic form of embeddedment, in a context of mixed economy (1948-1979). Contemporary India is experiencing a movement of disembeddedment of firms. This movement provokes the rise of a counter-movement of reembeddedment of firms, in which social movements play a central role. A constellation of actors produce CSR in response to this coupling between movements of disembeddedment and reembeddedment. The second part presents three monographs on cement plants operated or promoted by Lafarge India, which offer detailed observations of the conditions of emergence of the phenomenon of CSR. Combining a critical-realist approach and the sociology of Niklas Luhmann, a third part shows how CSR produces a meta-embeddedment of firms, which enables them to process the economic risks of the disembeddedment/reembeddedment coupling, both at an organizational level and at the systemic level of "global governance". ; La thèse propose une interprétation originale du phénomène de la responsabilité sociale d'entreprise (RSE) comme un méta-encastrement des firmes. Cette interprétation est élaborée à la lumière d'une investigation multi-niveaux du cas indien. La première partie débute par l'exposition d'un cadre d'analyse des rapports entre les firmes et leur environnement social, construit autour des ...

The PhD-thesis offers an original interpretation of the phenomenon of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a meta-embeddedment of firms. This interpretation is grounded in a multi-level empirical investigation of the Indian case. The first part begins with the presentation of an analytical framework, which uses the Polanyian notions of embeddedment and disembeddedment of the economic system to shed light on the relationships between firms and their social environment. The framework is subsequently deployed in a macrosociological study of the firm-society relationship in India. Three distinct configurations emerge. A form of "sociocultural" embeddedment of firms predominates from the 1860s to 1947. It gives way to a political and bureaucratic form of embeddedment, in a context of mixed economy (1948-1979). Contemporary India is experiencing a movement of disembeddedment of firms. This movement provokes the rise of a counter-movement of reembeddedment of firms, in which social movements play a central role. A constellation of actors produce CSR in response to this coupling between movements of disembeddedment and reembeddedment. The second part presents three monographs on cement plants operated or promoted by Lafarge India, which offer detailed observations of the conditions of emergence of the phenomenon of CSR. Combining a critical-realist approach and the sociology of Niklas Luhmann, a third part shows how CSR produces a meta-embeddedment of firms, which enables them to process the economic risks of the disembeddedment/reembeddedment coupling, both at an organizational level and at the systemic level of "global governance". ; La thèse propose une interprétation originale du phénomène de la responsabilité sociale d'entreprise (RSE) comme un méta-encastrement des firmes. Cette interprétation est élaborée à la lumière d'une investigation multi-niveaux du cas indien. La première partie débute par l'exposition d'un cadre d'analyse des rapports entre les firmes et leur environnement social, construit autour des ...

AbstractThe rise of public policies in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) suggests a reassertion of state power over a phenomenon initially designed to weaken public authorities. But depending on policy objectives and underlying state-business relationships, CSR public policies seem to oscillate between the steering of corporate conduct towards political goals and the provision of political support to business interests. The present paper offers new perspectives on this ambiguity. Using social systems theory to guide a comparative study of two major Indian CSR policies, the analysis distinguishes two levels. At a functional level, the introduction of CSR in Indian regulatory politics produced more or less constraining expectations that open up opportunities for companies to participate in the performance of political functions. At an operational level, however, even a "mandatory" policy designed primarily according to political calculations let companies decidehowthey perform these functions. This persistence of voluntarism, which is supported by the semantic properties of "CSR," consolidates the role of profit-driven calculations in the regulation of corporate conduct and, in the Indian case, in the redistribution of resources for social welfare. Research perspectives on the implications of CSR public policies for democracy are outlined in concluding remarks.

The rise of public policies in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) suggests a reassertion of state power over a phenomenon initially designed to weaken public authorities. But depending on policy objectives and underlying state-business relationships, CSR public policies seem to oscillate between the steering of corporate conduct towards political goals, and the provision of political support to business interests. The present paper offers new perspectives on this ambiguity. Using social systems theory to guide a comparative study of two major Indian CSR policies, the analysis distinguishes two levels. At a functional level, the introduction of CSR in Indian regulatory politics produced more or less constraining expectations that open up opportunities for companies to participate in the performance of political functions. At an operational level, however, even a "mandatory" policy designed primarily according to political calculations let companies decide how they perform these functions. This persistence of voluntarism, which is supported by the semantic properties of "CSR", consolidates the role of profit-driven calculations in the regulation of corporate conduct and, in the Indian case, in the redistribution of resources for social welfare. Research perspectives on the implications of CSR public policies for democracy are outlined in concluding remarks.

The emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a global component of business-society relationships has triggered many controversial debates in which CSR is either advocated as a source of virtuous business or disregarded as mere "window dressing." This paper proposes an alternative perspective on the CSR phenomenon based on N. Luhmann's social systems theory, which guides a study of CSR in India combining macroscopic observations and the case of the cement manufacturer Lafarge India. The study shows that CSR is not primarily constituted of corporate attempts to "do well by doing good," as the CSR doxa suggests. However, the phenomenon generates significant transformations of business-society relationships. While increasing financial expectations tend to blunt large companies' sensitivity toward competing societal expectations, other social systems react with protest movements and political interventions. Companies respond to the perceived threat of these uncertainties by introducing new CSR-related organizational structures, which improve their ability to observe the uncertainties as parameters of economic risks. Companies subsequently mobilize calculated CSR-related practices to shield business opportunities from the possible negative consequences of sociopolitical constraints. The analytical framework outlined in the present paper introduces new angles for studying how the CSR phenomenon proceeds from and transforms the way social systems observe and regulate the role of companies in society. ; Das Thema der gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung von Wirtschaftsunternehmen (Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR) löst seit seinem Aufkommen zahlreiche kontroverse Debatten aus. In diesen wird CSR entweder als eine Quelle vorbildlichen unternehmerischen Handelns befürwortet oder als reine Schönfärberei abgelehnt. Demgegenüber bietet dieser Aufsatz eine auf der Systemtheorie Luhmanns basierende Betrachtung des Phänomens CSR an. Eine in Indien durchgeführte Studie zeigt, dass es bei CSR nicht in erster Linie um die Versuche von Unternehmen geht, Erfolg durch gute Taten zu erzielen. Gleichwohl verwandelt CSR die Beziehungen zwischen Unternehmen und Gesellschaft erheblich. Während große Unternehmen durch steigende finanzielle Erwartungen zunehmend gegenüber den damit konkurrierenden gesellschaftlichen Erwartungen abstumpfen, reagieren andere gesellschaftliche Systeme mit Protestbewegungen und politischer Intervention. Unternehmen sehen derlei Unsicherheitsfaktoren als Bedrohung an und begegnen ihr mit der Einführung neuer CSR-orientierter Organisationsstrukturen, die es ihnen ermöglichen, diese Faktoren als Parameter ihres wirtschaftlichen Risikos besser zu überwachen. Mithilfe von CSR-Maßnahmen können Unternehmen dann ihre Geschäftschancen gegenüber etwaigen negativen Folgen soziopolitischer Beschränkungen abschirmen. Der hier dargelegte analytische Rahmen stellt neue Sichtweisen für die Untersuchung der Frage vor, wie sich CSR einerseits aus der Art, wie soziale Systeme die Rolle von Unternehmen in der Gesellschaft überwachen und regulieren, entwickelt und wie es diese wiederum transformiert.

What seemed unthinkable after the end of the Cold War and the triumph of liberalism has become reality today: the democratic world society of the 21st century is threatened by illiberal and autocratic political models. The state is no longer an instrument of a dominating stratum trying to control society. It must include individuals, produce valued outputs, know the complexity of society, and accept or deny the autonomy of other specialized function-systems.The authors analyze these political systems of a functionally differentiated world society and argue that they are completely novel because they incessantly adapt to the process of functional differentiation. To this end, they define structural core characteristics of modern policy, such as the political inclusion of everyone as a reaction to individualism; the complexity of polities arising from internal differentiation; and the increasing political decision-making handed to experts and autonomous organizations.

Frontmatter -- Editorial -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. Individual and Collective Inclusion and Exclusion in Political Systems -- 2. The Rise of Complexity: Internal Differentiation of Political Systems -- 3. Knowledge and the Political System -- 4. Political Responsiveness: The Identification and Processing of Problems in Modern Polities -- 5. Expansion through Self-Restriction: Functional Autonomy in Modern Democracies -- 6. The Bipolarity of Democracy and Authoritarianism and Its Societal Origins -- Biography of Authors

This book is about the radical novelty of modern polities in a functionally differentiated world society. Premodern states were at the apex of a stratified, hierarchical society. They dominated society and all its groups and strata. Modern polities have to be understood through the ecology of relations among different function systems. They have to find and incessantly redefine their place in society. They produce decisions that are collectively binding, but in preparing these decisions experience constraints and knowledge deficiencies that are related to the complexity of a functionally differentiated society. The book concentrates on six analytical perspectives that reflect how modern polities are embedded into 21st century society. These perspectives are: the concept of inclusion and the inclusion revolution constitutive of modern polities; the internal differentiation of polities that endows them with an unprecedented complexity; the fact that polities do not know anything about society and the ways in which they compensate for this; representation and responsiveness as strategies to reconnect with society; the self-restriction of some polities that brings about ever new autonomous expert organizations; the symmetrical rise of autocracies and democracies as the two modern variants of political regimes.

This book is about the radical novelty of modern polities in a functionally differentiated world society. Premodern states were at the apex of a stratified, hierarchical society. They dominated society and all its groups and strata. Modern polities have to be understood through the ecology of relations among different function systems. They have to find and incessantly redefine their place in society. They produce decisions that are collectively binding, but in preparing these decisions experience constraints and knowledge deficiencies that are related to the complexity of a functionally differentiated society. The book concentrates on six analytical perspectives that reflect how modern polities are embedded into 21st century society. These perspectives are: the concept of inclusion and the inclusion revolution constitutive of modern polities; the internal differentiation of polities that endows them with an unprecedented complexity; the fact that polities do not know anything about society and the ways in which they compensate for this; representation and responsiveness as strategies to reconnect with society; the self-restriction of some polities that brings about ever new autonomous expert organizations; the symmetrical rise of autocracies and democracies as the two modern variants of political regimes.

This book is about the radical novelty of modern polities in a functionally differentiated world society. Premodern states were at the apex of a stratified, hierarchical society. They dominated society and all its groups and strata. Modern polities have to be understood through the ecology of relations among different function systems. They have to find and incessantly redefine their place in society. They produce decisions that are collectively binding, but in preparing these decisions experience constraints and knowledge deficiencies that are related to the complexity of a functionally differentiated society. The book concentrates on six analytical perspectives that reflect how modern polities are embedded into 21st century society. These perspectives are: the concept of inclusion and the inclusion revolution constitutive of modern polities; the internal differentiation of polities that endows them with an unprecedented complexity; the fact that polities do not know anything about society and the ways in which they compensate for this; representation and responsiveness as strategies to reconnect with society; the self-restriction of some polities that brings about ever new autonomous expert organizations; the symmetrical rise of autocracies and democracies as the two modern variants of political regimes.